Mandating coverage for

According to earlier statements by Fola Daniel, the commissioner for insurance, these teams would include representatives from the Nigerian police, the Federal Road Safety Commission and the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria, as well as federal and state town planning authorities.Since the MDRI was launched in 2009, the federal government has made efforts to educate the public – both individuals and companies – on the importance of insurance.As a result, insurance companies have sought to improve compliance through a number of ways.Earlier this year, Ikechukwu Emezi, the deputy general manager for marketing at African Alliance Insurance, called on NAICOM to adopt “name-and-shame” tactics to compel private sector employers to comply with the law Emezi also noted that insurance services – unlike ordinary consumer goods – must be actively sold and not simply purchased.That is, even if insurance is beneficial, the customer must be persuaded to spend his or her money on it.

In August, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), the regulatory agency for the sector, announced that starting this month it would implement compulsory insurance laws that have been on the books – but largely unenforced – for many years.

In practice, doctors will not deny care to patients in the low-priced universal system because they make up the great majority of patients nationwide, and doctors would not be able to earn enough by serving only the small number of patients with private insurance.

and allows for-profit companies to compete for minimum coverage insurance plans, though there are also mutual insurers so use of a commercial for-profit insurer is not compulsory.

In early August Adamu Balanti, the director of research, statistics and information technology for NAICOM, announced at a meeting of the MDRI steering committee that enforcement of compulsory insurance would begin in September.

Chief Yemi Soladoye, a consultant on the MDRI project, added that enforcement teams, which will carry out nationwide inspections of organisations and property affected by the insurance laws, would be trained during August and September.